BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF LAW CLINIC INTERVENTIONS IN PRISON DECONGESTION.

By

JOSHUA UFEDO BABA AND WILL SIMON

INTRODUCTION

As at 29th September 2025, Nigeria had about 81,349 inmates. With a collective holding capacity of only 50,153 inmates across just 256 correctional centers, there is thus a significant disparity between capacity and population inevitably leading to prison inefficient management and congestion. Traditionally created as a platform within universities for practical legal training and education, law clinics have now become a tool to aid prison decongestion. It thus becomes critical to examine the role of these clinics to understand their impact, and appreciate their role in prison decongestion.

Prison congestion, which occurs when the number of inmates in a prison facility exceeds its official capacity, is particularly dire in Nigeria, where correctional centers built initially for a few thousand inmates now house tens of thousands. This can be attributed to several factors primarily of which is the judicial system itself. Courts are constantly overwhelmed by case backlogs due to constant adjournment and inadequate resources. Compounding this issue are the arbitrary arrests carried out by the police even in instances where there's insufficient evidence. Moreover, despite the efforts of the Legal Aid Council, many detainees lack legal representation, leaving them stuck in prison. Accordingly, this article will examine the impact of law clinics in de-congesting correctional centres in Nigeria, taking to note the role students play in bringing this to being. 

OVERVIEW OF THE LAW CLINIC

The consequences of overcrowding are multifaceted. Firstly, prison workers are left with limited resources to cater to the inmates. Economically, prison congestion strains government funding, diverting finances that could be allocated to national development toward ensuring inmates' survival. Worse, inmates are exposed to inhumane living conditions, and are placed at a heightened risk of disease outbreaks. Within this context, law clinics become relevant institutions in the initiative to deal with the issue of prison congestion.

The first law clinic was established in the United States of America in the 1900s by two professors to enable their students to have practical knowledge of the law. This model soon spread to Europe and Asia and eventually to Nigeria, where it became a platform to aid the legally disadvantaged. Regardless of geography, the law clinic's foundational mission is built around a consistent set of core objectives.

The first objective is helping students to build much-needed practical experience by involving them in live cases, research, and client interviews. Secondly, law clinics help achieve justice for those who may otherwise be deprived of it. Finally, the clinic is particularly concerned with public interest, thus engaging in advocacy, research, and community outreach.

In Nigeria, the public interest and community outreach objectives have manifested most critically in the campaign against prison congestion. Through prison outreach, clinics identify individuals who are unlawfully detained or those lawfully detained but lacking legal assistance. They then provide legal representation for such inmates, thus reducing the number of people in custody by securing their release or drawing attention to their situations. 

THE ROLE OF LAW CLINIC AND STUDENTS IN PRISON DECONGESTION

Justice plays an invaluable role in the stability of any community, and no community can prosper if justice can be sold and bought. The vision that justice should get to those in ample need of it is what empowers law clinicians. The law clinic is a place where students are taught to uphold justice by ensuring a humanitarian face in its pursuit. This provides students first, with a humane and nuanced approach to the law, and secondly, an experienced capacity with every confrontation with real-life issues that abound outside the four corners of the university and in verity with the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr:

The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.

In providing accessible justice, the law clinic takes on cases of pre-trial detainees, and even those on trial, "pro bono", meaning all the processes in attaining justice are done free of charge, with no stipulated fee, and open to all members of the community. Also, in the pursuit of justice, the welfare of the client is taken care of, and any means to scuttle justice employed by any party is met with resistance. 

Furthermore, students attain a first-hand knowledge of the sensitive nature of trial inmates, their struggles with incarceration and how students can advocate for better living standards for such detainees.

In bringing this to light, a case involving clinicians at the Yale University Law Clinic saw the Connecticut Supreme Court, "rule in favour of a student law clinic client, setting a new standard that makes it harder for police to keep cold case files from public view." This case shows the innovation young minds bring to the law clinic while also pursuing justice with unrestrained vitality.

Additionally, law clinics provide personal counselling for clients who need it. This enables those who do not know what the law provides for as it relates to their rights to become conversant with these rights through such counselling sessions. Sensitizations and educational workshops are organized for such purposes. These workshops are free and employ the services of working lawyers to break down the law into simple and reducible portions easy to understand.

Law clinics also take on the role of publicity for a case, so that justice is watched closely by the public. This ensures that the ingredients of a fair hearing are present in the case, as the court held in Kotoye v. CBN & Ors. (1989) 1 NWLR (Pt. 98) 419

"Justice must not only be done but must manifestly be seen to have been done."

The law clinic, more than anything, furnishes an unrestricted entry to discuss issues bordering on any aspect of law with no consultation fee. People can lodge complaints here, and they would be transferred to the appropriate body. Then, these cases are pursued forthwith without hitches or stops. 

 CHALLENGES FACING LAW CLINIC INTERVENTIONS AND SOLUTIONS 

The law clinic is not all roses and triumph; it is also confronted with myriad issues. While students are introduced to the practical aspects of law, there are other impediments:

1.) INADEQUATE FUNDING: Funding remains a stumbling block for law clinics. Law clinics are usually fixed and seen as essential in law faculties, yet they are either underfunded or not funded at all. This poses a big challenge as tasks requiring funds to be met do not get the required funding to meet them. For example, there are few incentives to aid clinicians visit correctional centres. In order to solve this, law faculties should ensure that the clinics in their domains are adequately funded. Clinicians should also tap into competitions, initiatives, funding programs, et al. 

2.) LACK OF AWARENESS: Some students still lack awareness of the opportunities available in law clinics, so they do not seek opportunities outside the classroom. Accordingly, law clinics should engage in internal publicity.

3.) CLINICAL EDUCATION: The role of clinical education cannot be underemphasized; clinical education ensures that the ethos and objectives of the law clinic are well spelt out. However, there exists little clinical education for those in the law clinic. This can be met by organizing sessions and webinars, bringing in seasoned speakers to extoll such points.

CONCLUSION

The law clinic is the closest rung to the community. Not only is it accessible, it pursues justice in its mundane form, ensuring no technicalities or extortions are present in the process. Students should be reminded that the law clinic is the human face of the law, and the law extends beyond the classroom. 

REFERENCES

a.) Statistics Summary (Nigerian Correctional Service) https://www.corrections.gov.ng/statistics_summary accessed 2 October 2025.

b.) Nigeria (World Prison Brief) https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/nigeria.com accessed 2 October 2025.

c.) Nacro, ‘Overcrowding in Prisons’ https://www.nacro.org.uk/nacro-services/our-work-in-criminal-justice/overcrowding-in-prisons/ accessed 2 October 2025.

d.) What is a Law Clinic? (TechLawClinics, University of Łódź) https://www.uni.lodz.pl/techlawclinics/en/techlawclinics/what-is-a-law-clinic accessed 2 October 2025.

e.) Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., The Common Law.

f.) Yale Law School, Connecticut Supreme Court Sides with MFIA Clinic in Police Records Case https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/connecticut-supreme-court-sides-mfia-clinic-police-records-case.